The Member of Parliament for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound took time to express his gratitude for former Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole shortly after it was announced that a vote had removed him from the position.
Alex Ruff has long spoken of his admiration for O’Toole, and says the MP for the electoral district of Durham stepped in and filled the leader’s position when his party needed it, and that Canadians will not find an MP “that cares deeper for Canada, or the Conservative movement.”
Ruff noted that what has happened within the Conservative caucus “is the same challenges everyone has been facing over the last two years. The pandemic has been frustrating, and not interacting on a daily basis has been challenging. People are frustrated based on the feedback they’re receiving, and the challenge for the Conservative party is how to understand what are the priorities for one part of the country, over another?”
The MP says he thinks it’s absolutely false that the trucker’s rally in Ottawa had anything to do with what is happening with the Conservative leadership, saying “a whole bunch of Canadians are frustrated. The Trucker convoy, which is more of a rally, is attracting fringe elements, but I talked to local truckers that made the journey last weekend. Everything was peaceful and I have known a lot of them my whole life”.
When it comes to the next leader, Ruff would not tip his hand in any direction, insisting to know which people were going to stand for the leadership before commenting, but he did say “we have some phenomenal up-and-coming MP’s, but that’s not how the leadership works. Could be someone not even elected right now that could come out of the woodwork. Don’t want to put pressure on someone to come forward, it’s not fair to them. Nobody that I’m aware of has indicated that they’re interested in the leadership….I’m confident that whoever the party membership selects as the next leader will be the next Prime Minister of Canada.”
